Academic Research
"Outcomes of applied weed and micro-organism technology for bio-remediation and sustained fertility on an intensive micro-horticulture unit"
Jim O’Gorman (B.Com) and Peter Ryan (B.Sc)
Click here for full research paper (11 pages @ 51kb)
The intent of the work at the Organic Research unit at Kakanui was to follow the methods and philosophies of researchers such as Steiner (1958), Balfour (1943) and Boserup (1965), to investigate bio-remediation methods of recovering damaged agricultural soils, using local resources coupled with microorganism technology, to assist farmers the world over. The bio-remediation method developed was a modified “Bio-Intensive” (Jeavons 1995) method of cultivation. Inputs were restricted to weeds and bio mass generated on the property, community green waste, seaweeds, fish offal and chicken manure. Water was from a rural water scheme, at 1000ℓ per day, for the 0.57 ha property. A lead crop of potatoes was planted to initiate bed formation. Post lead cropping, a layer of compost was incorporated into beds prior to the next, and each subsequent, crop. The study product chosen was garlic [var. ‘Printanor’], a primary crop grown for the Koanga Institute’s ‘Heritage Seed’ programme. Lettuce was planted and cropped prior to garlic, spinach was planted coincidently with, and beetroot was planted as a side crop post the harvesting of the spinach. Microorganism innoculum was applied twice per garlic crop cycle, once as a soil drench at planting and again just prior to bulb formation. Standard soil and microorganism tests were done prior to initial innoculum application. Results were measured by observation of changes in soil structure, changes in soil analysis results and increases in the percentage of marketable quality garlic. Marketable yield increased from 40 to 80% in one cycle. Average bulb weight increased from 70 to 100g when dried. In addition the soil maintained under-storey crops, which equated to an approximate yield of $45/m2
